Who are the Yazidis in Iraq?

Tens of thousands of a minority religious sect in Iraq have been forced into the mountains as Islamic militants gain ground there. Starving and struggling to stay alive, the U.S. has intervened with food and water.

The Yazidis were displaced in the 1980s under Saddam Hussein and violence against this group has continued since Hussein's fall, according to the Pew Research Center. Often Yazidis are victims of harassment because they sell alcohol, Pew says.